20 Things You Didn’t Know About Gladiator
8. Oliver Reed Was Difficult
Quite apart from the near-fisticuffs between Reed and Crowe, Reed could be hard to deal with. An alcoholic for many, many years, the acting legend was quick to anger and, astonishingly, suffered fools even less gladly than the film’s straight-talking leading man and famously gruff director.
The late Michael Winner had persuaded him to audition. Reed was miffed at the very idea, claiming that he was too famous to try out for roles. Winner soon put him in his place:
"Oliver, don't f*ck with me. You're not a f*cking star. You're out of work, and you're not old enough to retire, so you need a third act to your career. Obviously, they think if you're working with me, you can't be as drunk as people think you are. So go to Ridley and read. End of story, Oliver, and if he wants you to read twice, read twice."
He insisted to Scott that he wouldn’t work after 5pm: people thought it was because he wanted to be on time for happy hour, but in fact Reed had promised the studio he’d be teetotal during production, and hadn’t had a drink for months.
That didn’t stop the legend playing a practical joke on Omid Djalili, the actor playing a slave trader. During their confrontation scene, Reed - who was scripted to punch him - instead grabbed him hard by the testicles. Between takes, Reed kept the grip going, engaging him in casual conversation about the accommodations and the food, until finally admitting that it was a wind-up - some of the crew (who’d worked with Djalili on The Mummy the year before) had egged him on to do it.